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Article Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 8:44:50 PM P

La Habra man arrested in raid targeting gangs
By Associated Press

A La Habra resident was among two dozen men arrested Wednesday by federal authorities in raids targeting violent Latino street and prison gangs in Orange County.
The U.S. District Attorney's Office also unsealed two racketeering indictments that together charge 40 people with using extortion and violence to control drug dealing in the county and in Santa Ana.

Alleged Mexican Mafia leader Peter Ojeda, 63, of La Habra was among those arrested Wednesday.

He was charged in an indictment returned by a grand jury June 8 that alleges three counts including racketeering, drug trafficking and methamphetamine distribution.

"He ran the Hispanic street gangs in the county based on his position in the Mexican Mafia,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith said.

U.S. Attorney Debra Yang called Ojeda "one of the most powerful gangsters in Orange County.'

She said the arrests should "send a message to gangsters that law enforcement is committed to working together to take you off the streets.'

Ojeda's organization allegedly maintained control over Orange County drug trafficking by extorting "taxes' from gangs and ordering beatings for those who didn't pay. The indictment covered alleged crimes from 2003 to last January.

In a separate 22-count indictment returned May 18, members of the Myrtle Street Gang based in Santa Ana were accused of extortion, plotting to kill rivals, and taxing other drug dealers operating on their turf.

The 24 people arrested Wednesday appeared in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana later in the day and were ordered held without bail, Smith said. All 40 suspects were due back in court for arraignment on June 23.

Four of those charged for their alleged roles in a narcotics conspiracy remained at large.

Wednesday's arrests were announced at a news conference and followed a two-year investigation by Santa Ana police, California Department of Corrections investigators and agents with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.